Telescopic tree pruner



Jan. 20, 1931. A W LOWE 1,789,824

TELEscoPIc TREE PRUNER 'Filed April 23. 1929 INVEINTR 16 W/Y//afr owe I n j Patented Jan. 20, 1931 This invention relates 'to telescopic-tree prunersand aims primarily to provide ia telescopic tree primer, which is yrapidly and readily adjusted lengthwise for operation V i -WiLLFIAMnoWn' onfconlvcrn, IDAHO TEL-Escono TREE PRUNER Appnamnriea Aprn 2a, 1929. seriaifnaiasrgssv.,

Figs. 4, xand 6 are enlarged horizontal 'sections Ytaken through lilies 5-*5` and 6 6, respectively,'of Fig. l

ig. 7 is an enlarged fi'algmentarynvertical 5 upon trees of varying heights, whereby the medial Ysection tailen through 'line v77 of 55 pruning of such trees is lmaterially simpli- Fig. 1. g .v p n fied and the necessity of employing a series Fig, 8 is an Venlarged horizontal 'section `of tree primers of varying lengths, as has taken through line 8 8 ofFig. l.b

been customary heretofore, is cbviate'd. l Figi) isa fragmentary front elevation"of41 Contemplated by the present invention is the' Aactuating mechanism upper :terminal 'a telescopic tree primer embodying a pole hook.

fabricated from a. series oftelescopic tubular Fig.v E'li-0V is va fragmentary yvertical section sections;meansto prevent rotative movement Vtaken through line I104.1() .of Fig.` l.

of said sections relative to eachother; a hook rigidly'secured'to the upper endofthe pole; section of the lower halfl `a pruning blade pivotally mounted upon prjuner, and Y said hook; a spring-pressed"actuating rod F ll is an enlarged fragmentary medial y portion offthetre'e Fig. 1'2'is 'a sectionvillustratifng the pivotal'ly connected to 'said blade; a supmanner fof interlocking .the vtellevz'scopic secple'mental actuating rod slidablymounted tOXlS Whell-he Sam@ @ir @Xtelldedf upon the lower end of said -actuatingrod; a

l' Beginning the vmore detailed description fixed guide and a `sliding guide for said acof ythe invention, by reference'to the drawtuating rod; a. hand lever selectively engageings, the numeral l designates the lower or able with said actuating rod -or said -suppleor handle 116l and :having the walls of its up- 7 Vper half/portion indented lengthwise at diaouter telescopic `tii'biila'r section of the tree mentalactuating rod, and means Vto interlock primer having tslowerend closed by a plug said telescopic sections in predetermined adjusted positions, all of which lare important objects andy primary features of theinvention `metrically opposite vpoints to provide longiand-are to be correlated in the broad aim of tudinally 'disposed ribs or ridges 17 upon eral use.

The above, land additional objects which will hereinafter be more specifically 'treated are attained by such means as are shown i-n the accompanying drawings described inthe 3 following specification and then'more clearly pointed out in the claim, which is 'appended A 'creto and forms 'part-of this application. I

rWith reference to the drawings, in which there is illustrated one embodiment of the invention, and throughout the several v-iews enhancing the efficiency of the device for gen- 'the ntelOI thereof. y

j Slidably mounted andtelescfoping within the section 15 is the upper telescopicltubular vsection 18 ofthe tree primer, .the walls of thelower half portion Vof which are'alsol indented lengthwise at diametrically opposite points to provide longitudinally d i'isposed"B5 "grooves 19iipon the exterior thereof, 'wherein' the ribs 1T of the section l5 y'are adapted vto normallyiseat, to thereby posit'ivelyprevent rotation of the section "18 within and rela `tive vto the section l5, while readily permit- 9U Y of which like characters of 'reference desigltingofaxial `movementfof the former within nate similar parts invention, certain parts being broken away `in spaced relation, as by riveting, to the upthe latter.

, A hook20, preferably fabricated from two 5 tre'e primer `comprehende'd by the present plates in theshapeshown'are rigidly secured or `omitted and certain other parts being per wedge-shaped terminal of the*telescopic shown in section forcliarity of illustration. section 18, and 'interposed between said Fig. '2 isa side elevation of the same.`

"sections extended.

connected to 4the pilates h y y Y platesis an voscillative ci'itting'blade or prunig. A8 is a front `elevation thereof with the ling knife 21, whi-ch :is jivotall'y, m'ounte'djor asceworpinQZ Pivotally connected to the outer end ot the cutting blade 21, is the hook-shaped upper terminal of a dependent main actuating reciprocative rod 23 guided for reciprocation at a point substantially midway its length within a. iixed guide or eye 24 rigidly secured to the casing 18, as shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 11. Loosely mounted upon the rod 23 and normally resting upon the eye 24 is a washer or collar 25, and mounted upon the rod 23, adjacent its upper end, for .selective adjustment thereon is an adjustable collar 26. Mounted upon the rod 23 and interposed between the washer 25 and collar 2G is a helical compression spring 27, the compression upon which is varied by the adjustable collar 26, andthefunction of which is to eiectretraction of the cutting blade 21 following a cutting operation.

Slidably disposedl upon the telescopic tubular section 18 below the eye 24 is a band 28 having an anti-friction roller 29 mounted upon one side there-ot and at a diametrically opposite point thereon is outwardlyT offset to form a. loop 30 thereat, wherethrough the upper terminal portion of a dependent supplemental actuating reciprocative rod 31 extends, said portion being return bent immediately below said loop 30 to form an eye 32 therein and being similarly bent immediately above the loopV 30 to form an eye 33, which eyes 32 and 33 are adapted to respectively 'abut the lower and upper ends of the loop 31 and serve and function thereat to connect the upper terminal portion of the supplemental actuating rod 31 to the sliding band 28 and also positively prevent independent movement of such rod relative to said band. The band 28 with its correlated parts form and constitute a sliding guide for the main actuating` rod 23 and Jfor this purpose the lower terminal portion of said main actuating rod 23 extends downwardly through the eyes 33 and 32, and at its lower end is return bent in a lateral direction, with the return bent portion outwardly bent to form a hook 34. The terminal of the return bent portion is also bent upon itself to form an eye 35,

which Asurrounds and is slidably mounted upon the supplemental actuating rod 31, so that the actuating rods 23 and 31 are maintained and retained in normally abutting relation, as shown in the severalv viewsof the drawings. rlhe lower end of the supplemental actuating rod 31 is provided with an inwardly directed terminalhook 36, the function and purpose of which will hereinafter be made more apparent.

Mounted for axial adjustment upon'the lower tubular section 15, at a pointsubstantially midway its length, is a sectional band 37, which band is adjustably secured in selected positions upon said section by clamping screws 3.8 provided at their inner termi- Anais with hooks 39, to .which are pivotally The the clevis 43 is adapted to normally engage .I

the hook 36=ot the supplemental actuating rod 31, when the sections 15 and 18 ot the tree pruner are extended to the full length, as shown in Fig. 3, in which' extended position, such sections are adapted to be interlocked against axial movement relative to each other, and for this purpose the section 18 is provided at its inner end with a removable plug 44 adapted to be normally retained in seated relation therein by atransversely dis-r posed pin 45,. v is adapted to be tixedly secured by screws 47 to the side of the plug 44 and to have its tree upper portion extend within the `section 18,

said locking member 46 being bent at its.

upper terminal to form a catch 48, which normall' f projects into a slot or opening 49 formed in the walls of the section 18, when the latter is telescoped within the section 15,

as shown more clearly in Fig.,11, but, which# also projects into' a slot 50 ormedin the section 15 adjacent its upper end, when the section 18 is extended, substantially in the man- -ner illustrated in Figs. 3 and 12, to thereby hook 34, so that oscillative movements of the handle 40 will impart reciprocative movements to the main actuating rod 23, which in turn will impart oscillative movements to the cutting or pruning blade 21, as the latter is movedfrom the open position illustrated` in full lines in Fig. 1 to the closed or cutting position indicated in dot and dashv lines therein, it being supposed that a limbor twig has been vinserted within the hooi: 20, the cutting edge of the blade is gradually elevated, and due to the mode of construction of the hook 2O the limb or twig is held squarely for the action ot the cuttingv blade against it, so that a clean' cut is obtained.

To change the 'tree pruner for operations` at higher levelsthevclevis 42 is disengaged from the hook 34 and the section 18 drawn out of the section 15 until thecatch 48 engages the slot 50, at which time the hook 36 is in proximity to the handle 40, whereupon A resilient locking member 46AY llul) mental actuating rods 23 and 31, for the reason that the eye 32 of the latter is in normal abutment with the eye 35 of the rod 23, as` shown more clearly in Fig. 8, and vsaid rods are guided during their joint reciprocative movements by the eye 24E and the band 28 sliding upon the section 18, in the manner i`n dicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. It will be obvious from the foregoing and by referring to the drawings that joint reciprocative movement of the rods 23 and 31 cause oscil-v lation of the cutting or pruning blade 21, to thereby etfectcutting or pruning operations therewith. i It will also be manifest from the foregoing that compression spring 27 serves and functions to automatically return the blade 21 to its retracted position following each cutting operation. To again shorten or telescope the tree pruner the operator disengages the clevis 43 from the hook 36, then disengages the catch 48 from the'slot 50 and pushes the section 18 within the section 15 until the outer notched end of the plug 4:4 abuts the inner end ofthe plug 16, substantially as shown in Figs. land 10. The plug 44 is preferably notched at its outer end to facilitate its withdrawal from the section 18 to eifectrepairs to the resilient locking member 46, or when dis-v mantling the tree pruner.

From the foregoingit will be evident that the telescopic tree primer of the present invention is extremely simple, compact, durable and economical in construction, is reliable and etlicient in use and operation, is rapidly extended or telescoped' when desired, and will not readily get out of order.

While I have herein shown and described the invention with sufficient detail to `enable those skilled in the art to which it pertains to understand the mode of construction and the principles involved, it is to be understood that there is no intentional limitation herein to the specific form and pre- Vcise details of construction shown and described except as expressly deiined bythe appended claim, and that various modifications of the same may be resorted to without departing from the invention or the benefits derivable therefrom. It is also to be understood that certain features of the invention herein disclosed may be employed in other combinations than those shown and described.

1 That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent is A telescopic tree pruner comprising a plurality of telescopic tubular sections adapted to be interlocked against axial movement when extended, means to prevent rotative movement of said sections relative to each other, a hook rigidly secured to the upper end of the innermost section, a cutting blade pivotally mounted upon said hook, a spring-pressed actuating rod pivotally connected at its upper end to said blade and'depending therei 

